Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

Temple Grandin’s professional training as an animal scientist and her history as a person with autism have given her a perspective like that of no other expert in the field. Grandin and coauthor Catherine Johnson present their powerful theory that autistic people can often think the way animals think—putting autistic people in the perfect position to translate “animal talk.”

Being a Dog

Being a Dog is a scientifically rigorous book that presents cutting-edge research with literary flair. Revealing such surprising facts as panting dogs cannot smell to explaining how dogs tell time by detecting lingering smells, Horowitz covers the topic of noses - both canine and human - from curious and always fascinating angles. As we come to understand how rich, complex, and exciting the world around us appears to a dog's sense of smell, we can begin to better appreciate it through our own.

The Perfect Horse

In the chaotic last days of the war, a small troop of battle-weary American soldiers captures a German spy and makes an astonishing find - his briefcase is empty but for photos of beautiful white horses that have been stolen and kept on a secret farm behind enemy lines. Hitler has stockpiled the world's finest purebreds in order to breed the perfect military machine - an equine master race. But with the starving Russian army closing in, the animals are in imminent danger of being slaughtered for food.

Being a Beast: Adventures Across the Species Divide

How can we ever be sure that we really know the other? To test the limits of our ability to inhabit lives that are not our own, Charles Foster set out to know the ultimate other: the nonhumans, the beasts. And to do that, he tried to be like them, choosing a badger, an otter, a fox, a deer, and a swift.

When the Killing's Done: A Novel

Alma Boyd Takesue is a National Park Service biologist who is spearheading the efforts to save the Channel Islands’ endangered native creatures from invasive species like rats and feral pigs, which, in her view, must be eliminated. Her antagonist, Dave LaJoy, is a dreadlocked local businessman who, along with his lover, the folksinger Anise Reed, is fiercely opposed to the killing of any species whatsoever and will go to any lengths to subvert the plans of Alma and her colleagues.

Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me from Myself

At 22 Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home. Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a golden retriever puppy she named Bunker.

sarah says:"Disappointed."

Audible Editor Reviews

Part philosophy treatise and part pet owner manual, Vicki Hearne's Adam's Task: Calling Animals by Name is groundbreaking. In it, she presents an unconventional but surprisingly effective animal training system. Hearne, herself, was both a professor of philosophy at Yale University as well as a dog and horse trainer. Rachel Fulginiti's graceful performance does this audiobook justice. Her voice is warm, sweet, and clear as a bell. Her pacing is thoughtful. She provides vocal variation in quite a natural way. This audiobook is a must listen for all animal lovers.

Publisher's Summary

Have you ever watched a horse flick her tail or had a dog greet you at your door and known in your heart that the animal was exhibiting something more than simple instinctual responses? If so, you must read this book. In it Vicki Hearne asserts that animals that interact with humans are more intelligent than we assume. In fact, they are capable of developing an understanding of "the good", a moral code that influences their motives and actions. Hearne’s thorough studies led her to adopt a new system of animal training that contradicts modern animal behavioral research, but - as her examples show - is astonishingly effective. Hearne’s theories will make every trainer, animal psychologist, and animal-lover stop, think, and question.

Vicki Hearne can be difficult to read but do the work and it stays with one. I have read this book several times and it never fails to amuse, comfort, challenge, and provoke thought. What we understand about language is assumed and Hearne begins to show us how to move from what we limit to what we can use about that form of ignorance. It is a book to reread and the first read is just a beginning. This narrator is adequate and not irritating. I am not sure if I would be happy about any narrator since I have a passion for this book.